


Seeing Stars Through Clouds

by keelywolfe



Series: by any other name [18]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale), Undertale Monsters on the Surface
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 00:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16074779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelywolfe/pseuds/keelywolfe
Summary: A prequel to the series, before Edge and Stretch are in a relationship. They get off to a rocky start, to put it mildly.





	Seeing Stars Through Clouds

* * *

He was not expecting the knock on his door. 

Edge looked up from his paperwork and frowned. He didn’t get knocks on his office door, not without getting a call warning him ahead of time. Curiosity overrode concern and Edge called, “Come in.”

To have Stretch walk through the door was the very last thing he would have expected and not only because he and the other skeleton did not get along, to put it mildly. But also, he didn’t recall ever seeing the other skeleton down at the Embassy. Whereas all the rest of them had come to work here with a vested interest in Human/Monster relations, Stretch had kept to spending his time lazing on the sofa in his brother’s house, content to smoke his way through his days as though they’d never left Snowdin. 

That his brother allowed it was almost worse in Edge’s opinion, but he grit his teeth and kept it to himself. He was fond of Blue and he knew from personal experience that there was no better to way to alienate any of them than to degrade their brothers. He himself was allowed to slight Red and no one else, and that was that. 

“How did you get past my secretary?” Edge asked, resigned to at least a brief conversation with the idiot. 

“are you kidding?” Stretch scoffed. He was wearing an orange hoodie and track pants, and Edge wondered sourly if they were the same ones he’d had in the Underground. “she follows me on twitter. she probably thinks we’re related or some shit.”

“I’ll have to discuss her choice of social media later,” Edge looked back down at his paperwork. “Now if you please, I’m busy.”

“i got dressed and came all the way down here on the bus, maybe you can listen?” Stretch sighed a little and reluctantly added, “please.”

There was precisely nothing that he wanted to hear Stretch say and yet, Edge hesitated. Perhaps Blue was having some sort of issue, that would certainly be enough to drive Stretch into effort; for all his laziness, he did care about his brother. Edge set down his pen and folded his hands together, “Fine. You have 5 minutes.”

Stretch didn’t seem like he was expecting him to relent, “right.” He shuffled his feet, the untied laces of his tennis shoes dragging on the floor. In his left hand, he was flipping his lighter in his fingers, the soft click of metal against bone rhythmic and distracting. 

“If you smoke in here, I will not be responsible for my actions.”

“what?” Stretch startled. “oh, i wasn’t…um…” He tucked the lighter away, but it didn’t stop his fidgeting, tugging absently on the strings of his hoodie. 

Edge ground his teeth in irritation. “What. Do. You. Want,” he enunciated patiently. 

"right, right,” Stretch took a deep breath. “you've all been working really hard.”

"And you have not—"

“do you want me to talk or not? no, don’t answer that,” Stretch forged on, though he seemed strained. "i thought it would be fun, you know, if you wanted--" He trailed off and instead pulled a crumpled paper out of his pocket, smoothing it out and setting it in front of Edge. 

It was an advertisement for a free day at a local planetarium for tomorrow. _Learn about the stars_ , the flyer declared in bright, cheerily letters, a cartoon image of a telescope surrounded in planets beaming out from it. 

“you spend all your free time volunteering down at the y, i thought maybe you would want to bring the kids to this, since it’s free,” Stretch said. He gained enthusiasm with every word, his hands gesturing excitedly. “it’s a really cool planetarium, there’s only ten like it left in the country and—”

“Have you lost what little mind you have?” Edge interrupted. “Do you know what it takes to set up a field trip for those children? We need signed permission slips, we need to arrange transportation, I’d need at least one additional chaperone—"

“well, yeah, i figured that, i knew that, i was going to come and help,” Stretch beamed, and of course he’d think he had all the answers. 

Edge laughed harshly at the very thought. "You? With your HP? They are children; one of them makes a foolish decision, you're dust and they are on trial for manslaughter. Yes, that does sound like an excellent time, why not take them on a tour of the local prisons afterward, perhaps they’d be allowed to choose their favorite.” 

Stretch’s expression faltered, his smile fading, and the lighter made a reappearance with that aggravating click, click, click. “oh, come on, i’m not _that_ fragile!”

“Frankly, I can't imagine what stupidity made you think I'd want to go to begin with," Edge added smoothly, pushing the flyer aside and picking up his pen again. “Your five minutes are up.”

He expected a scathing remark about how a Fell monster wasn't likely to know anything about fun, anyway, maybe a suggestion that any event without death wasn't worth attending. That without a little blood and violence, it couldn’t be called entertainment. That was generally how their interactions had gone in the past, when they’d interacted at all. 

He did not expect Stretch to sag back, ducking his head to mutter, "yeah. i guess it was pretty stupid. i’ll let you get back to work."

He left without another word, already pulling out his cigarettes as the door shut quietly behind him. The whole experience had left Edge strangely unsettled. He pushed it aside, he had work to do.

The flyer was still sitting on the corner of his desk that evening and Edge threw it in the trash on his way out the door.

* * *

"What did you do to my brother?"

It was nearly a week after that incident and Edge hadn’t given it another thought. Not until Blue walked up to his table in the cafeteria. Edge didn’t usually come down here, he was content to trust his own cooking and usually brought his lunch. From the look of things, he should have continued the trend today. "Not a thing. I haven't even seen your brother in days."

Blue glared at him. With Edge sitting, they were of a height and the normal stars of his eye lights were instead pinpricks of anger. “That would be because he hasn't left the house in days.”

"I have no idea what his problem is or why you think I had anything to do with it," Edge took a bite of his chicken salad and had to keep himself from grimacing. Yes, he would bring his lunch tomorrow or at the very least order delivery. 

"Because a few days ago was when he saw the ad for the planetarium. He was excited about it and he was telling me how he was going to drag you and those children from the Y along, he even called the planetarium to ask about bringing a group and—" he trailed off and that was the expression of someone who realized they'd said a little too much. "Since the exhibit is over and he never went, either he didn't ask you or you did something."

Sighed, Edge pushed his wreck of a lunch aside. Apparently, Stretch had taken his refusal a little harder than Edge had meant. "Fine. I'll go talk to him. Where is he?"

Blue gave him a narrow look. "No."

Startled, Edge frowned. "What?"

"I said no, I don't think you should talk to him. I'd rather you forgot all of this and left him alone."

Impatiently, Edge said, "I was going to apologize—"

"My brother is not some kind of inconvenience," Blue said, low. Around them the sounds of the cafeteria were a normalcy around a conversation he had not expected to have, not with Blue. He was aware that Edge and Stretch did not get along and had always acted as something of a buffer between them, refusing to choose sides. It was a firm reminder of just whose brother Blue was. 

"I never said anything of the sort,” Edge said, carefully. 

"You didn’t have to,” Blue said, “My brother is brilliant and wonderful and kind and…and funny! And he doesn't need anyone making him think otherwise!"

"Blue, I don't think that."

"But he does!" Blue snapped, his voice breaking. There was the faintest hint of tears in his sockets and Blue blinked them away. 

"Blue—"

His disappointment was palpable. "I would have thought someone who spends so much of his spare time with troubled teenagers would understand more."

"What the hell does that have to do with—" oh.

Oh.

It was like taking a picture with an old camera, the way softly blurred edges suddenly came into focus and left everything glaringly clear. 

“Blue…”

"Just stay away from him,” Blue said coldly, and he turned away, walking through the crowd of Monsters with trays and cups. Edge only watched him go, alone with his salad and his thoughts.

* * *

Across the street from the Swap brother’s house, Edge was watching the second-floor windows. One of those rooms belonged to Stretch and he wasn’t certain which one, but years of experience in planning scenarios, attacks, time spent observing the weaknesses of others, had always served him well. In the past, Blue had complained that his brother’s room smelled of cigarettes even though Stretch always opened a window when he smoked. Therefore, Edge concluded that eventually Stretch would open a window and reveal which room was his. 

Until then, Edge kept to his post. Concealed in the branches of the large oak across the road, dressed entirely in black as he waited for his objective. 

It was entirely possible he was taking this too seriously. 

Blue had been decidedly cool to him at the Embassy, but it had only been a couple of days. Chances were he would soften with time, having never been as fierce with a grudge as Sans or Red, and Edge only needed to wait it out. 

If he were honest with himself, it wasn’t Blue’s distance that had driven him, literally, up a tree. It was his comment comparing Stretch with the children from the Y, and that had been itching at him, coloring every memory he had of Stretch, and for someone who prided himself on observation, it was humbling to realize he’d allowed his dislike to overshadow his perception. 

A mistake like that with his group at the Y could have been devastating for a child. 

A light clicked on in one of the upstairs windows and Edge narrowed his sockets, waiting. As predicted, the window rose, and he watched as Stretch leaned out, the tiny light of his cigarette glowing through the evening dimness. Edge bided his time, waiting until Stretch snuffed that light and began to turn back inside. In that moment, he leapt from the tree, dashing across the road and catching hold of the eves to swing himself up lightly onto the roof. He landed silently a few feet from the open window, balanced easily. 

Softly, he said, "Stretch."

Who whirled back around and fumbled both his cigarette and a lighter, the flame snapping out as both rolled down the shingles and fell to the ground, "holy shit!" Stretch wheezed, his eye lights wide as saucers as he stumbled back. Edge took advantage of the empty window to swing into the room, landing lightly. Stretch almost fell into a chair, staring up at him.

"fuck me, is that how people feel when i shortcut in?" he groaned. "i don't even have a heart and you about gave me an attack. What the fuck are you _doing_?"

Edge crossed his arms over his chest. "I wanted to talk to you."

"seriously?” Stretch said, disbelieving, “this may surprise you, but around here we have things called doors. you knock on them and then you get to walk through 'em, it's all very modern."

"Your brother won't let me."

Blankly, Stretch echoed, "my brother what now?"

"He won't let me see you,” Edge repeated, patiently.

"okay, hang on,” Stretch rubbed between his sockets with a knuckle, “i feel like i'm getting the cliffnotes version here. start over, what the hell is going on?"

"Your brother thought I was cruel to you,” Edge said, “when I refused your offer to go to the planetarium."

Stretch looked away from him, "yeah, you were pretty much a dickbag about it. so what?"

"And told me to stay away from you."

"okay, stop there,” Stretch said, his voice a mixture of disbelief and frustration, “this is new information to me. my brother is…what? banning you from talking to me?"

Edge nodded. “He asked me what I did to you and I believe he didn’t care for my answer. He instructed me to stay away from you and he’s currently angry with me, as far as I can gauge since he is hardly speaking to me himself."

"oh," Stretch said, softer. He shook his head, sighing, "well, don't worry about it, edgelord. i'll talk to blue, he'll get over it, and you two can go back to your stitch and bitch or whatever it is you two do." 

An odd, unexpected tightness settled into Edge’s chest, because Stretch thought he was here for himself, that he wanted the return of Blue’s friendship, and not—"I'm sorry."

The chair squeaked a protest as Stretch shifted his weight, "you don't need to apologize to me."

"Don’t I?” Edge said, “We've always had something of an antagonistic relationship. I'm accustomed to a certain amount of verbal sparring from you. It wasn't my intention to be cruel or for you to take what I said so personally. If I took things too far, I'm sorry."

Stretch was already shaking his head. "it's…it's fine, i shouldn't have…i mean, i know better. it's fine."

"Is it?"

"yeah, it was stupid of me to think that you—"

"Don't," Edge said softly, "you aren't stupid."

"oh, come on,” Stretch laughed harshly. “that’s me, the lazy idiot, right?"

"No more than Sans or Red are, we all know better."

"look,” Stretch looked down at the floor, shifting so that his clasped hands hung down between his knees. “i know we haven't always gotten along. i wasn't exactly at my best when we first got here. this isn't the world i wanted me and my brother to be in."

"I doubt it was the world any of us expected."

"ain’t that the truth,” Stretch laughed, not quite bitterly. “anyway, i'm kind of hoping people don't hold me to that first impression for the rest of my life. this place, it isn't so bad and i…" he hesitated, muttering out, "blue said i've been doing better since we got here. and look at you, you really took to this place."

"It's different from home."

"yeah, i bet,” Stretch said, but he had no insult for Underfell, no snide remark. He only looked at Edge, his eye lights steady. “the thing i want to know is, if someone came up to you right now and offered you a chance to go home, would you?"

“I don't know…no. That's a lie," Edge said heavily. "I wouldn't. My brother is better here."

"yeah," Stretch agreed quietly. "i couldn't go back either. i couldn't…i couldn't do that again. couldn't watch that again. not again." His voice cracked. Edge didn’t like his expression, too close to when they'd first arrived and only now could he see the difference. The way Stretch had lost that exhausted, pinched look. He thought of the children at the Y, the way some of them shed that same expression when they played games, laughing the way children should. 

"Couldn't watch what?" Edge asked, softly.

Too soon, perhaps; his face closed off and Stretch shook his head. "never mind. anyway, thanks for the apology, i'll tell blue that you--"

"Come to the planetarium with me," Edge said abruptly.

That got Stretch to look up, startled. "what? the free day is already over."

"So what?" Edge said impatiently. As if a few dollars made any difference. "Come with me anyway."

There was something about his smile, faint as it was. Some measure of delight that shone through. “you really want to go? i wasn’t sure it would be your thing, but when red suggested it—" 

“What?” A ripple of shock went through him. “ _Red_ suggested it?”

“yeah, i mean, we’ve been hanging out sometimes, down at grilby’s? he was the one who showed me the flyer.”

“Of course,” Edge said sourly. “How entertaining for him. Whether I said no or whether we attempted to bring the children, he could get a laugh.”

Stretch blinked at him, uncertainty rising, “what? you think he did it as a joke? why would he do that?”

“To amuse himself, I’m sure.” Was everyone from their universe this naïve?

“oh,” Stretch said quietly. His smile faded and for the briefest moment, emotion flashed over his face, a tangle of _hurt/bewilderment/grief_. Then his expression smoothed, and he hunched over a little more, digging through his desk for another lighter. His words blurred around a cigarette as he lit it. “yeah, hilarious.”

He looked like the Stretch he’d first met, the careless, lazy buffoon who was smarter than he seemed, and hiding it behind sarcasm and blatant flirtation. Wonderful, he’d come to apologize, and he’d made things worse. He felt a flash of anger at his brother for whatever game he was playing and why? Because it was Stretch? Careless, lazy Stretch, the ashtray, it wasn’t like a bad joke or prank would actually hurt him.

That was what Stretch wanted them to believe but Edge was catching a glimmer of something past that and he misliked deception. He wanted to see the truth. 

“So, come to the planetarium with me,” Edge persisted. 

“please don’t play with me.” Stretch sounded tired, leaning back in the chair to prop his feet on the desk, tapping ash into a glass ashtray that was already littered with butts. “if you actually want to go, we’ll go. don’t do this because you think you have to or you think it’s funny…or…or…”

“Have you ever known me to make a joke?"

That faint smile returned, sweet and soft. “not so much."

A strange feeling rose in his soul, one that Edge was not familiar with it. He absently rubbed his chest, urging the ache to recede. “Very well, then, we can go on Friday night.”

“you already checked their schedule, didn’t you,” Stretch grinned, honest and wide, and instead of fading that odd feeling swelled brighter, something warm and soft. 

“I did.”

“okay, then, we’ll go,” Stretch agreed, softly, and something sly crossed his face. “but only if you walk out through the front door in your ninja getup there.”

“That would be certain to irritate your brother,” Edge pointed out.

“yeah, it would,” Stretch chuckled, “but it’ll be funny. maybe it’ll teach him a lesson about trying to play security guard.”

There was exasperation in there that, for once, was not directed at Edge and he suspected that there was going to be an argument after he left. That he could understand, he had his own experiences with overprotective brothers and how had he never realized that Stretch and Blue surely had issues with each other and that not all of them were on Stretch’s side. 

“Deal,” Edge said with a firm nod. He waited until Stretch went to the door and opened it with an exaggerated ‘after you’ gesture. It may be a mistake, he knew, agreeing to go anywhere with Stretch. More than likely it was, but Edge supposed it wouldn’t be such a terrible thing to at least learn to tolerate him. At least until he’d dug a little further beneath that veneer to see what Stretch was hiding. 

Stretch was more of an enigma than he’d suspected, a puzzle to figure out, and Edge found he was looking forward to it. But that was for Friday. 

For now, he followed Stretch down the stairs, anticipating Blue’s outraged expression and it wasn’t going to smooth things over at the embassy, to be sure. 

But Stretch was right about one thing, it was certainly funny. 

-finis-


End file.
